CROATIA'S BUSINESS CONFIDENCE INDEX IN APRIL DROPS TO 47.6

ZAGREB, April 17 (Hina) - Croatia had a Business Confidence Index (BCI) of 47.6 in April, which is less than in March, when its BCI was 51.9. This is the second consecutive month the BCI has been decreasing, the Croatian Employers' Association said. The business people interviewed in April said that high interest rates, corruption, tax policy and the lack of demand were the main obstacles to their successful operation. The BCI can range between 0 and 100 and the April BCI is the lowest one so far. Croatia's BCI was calculated for the first time in November last year, when it was 48.1. The highest BCI of 52.3 was recorded in February this year. The April survey included some 40 companies, of which one half were big and the other half small and medium-sized businesses. Big entrepreneurs continue to be more optimistic than the small and medium-sized ones and their BCI in April was 54.4 whereas small and medium-sized businesses gave a BCI of 40.7. The calculation of the BCI was initiated by the Croatian Employers' Association. The BCI is calculated every month on the basis of answers provided by business people on various business factors (planned increases in investments, expected profit increase etc.) The BCI is a widely used indicator of confidence of business people in a country's economy and it provides good forecasts of basic macroeconomic variables, such as the growth of the Gross Domestic Product. (hina) rml